Hackländer

Hackländer, FRIEDRICH WILHELM VON, a German novelist and comedy writer, was born at Burtscheid, near Aix-la-Chapelle, 1st November 1816. After one, or two false starts in life, he commenced his literary career with Bilder aus dem Soldatenleben (1841), and three years later followed up his success with Das Soldatenleben im Frieden (9th ed. 1883). The truth and pleasant humour of these books induced Baron von Taubenheim to invite Hackländer to accompany him on his travels to the East. The literary fruits of this journey were Daguerreotypen, aufgenommen auf einer Reise in den Orient (2 vols. 1842), and Pilgerzug nach Mekka (1847; 3d ed. 1881), a collection of oriental tales and legends. In 1843 he was appointed private secretary to the crown-prince of Württemberg, with whom he travelled in the succeeding years. In March 1849 he went to Italy, was present with Radetzky's army during the campaign in Piedmont, and afterwards published Soldatenleben in Kriege (2 vols. 1849-50). From 1859 onwards he lived for the most part in Stuttgart, partly also at Leoni on Lake Starnberg (or Würm) near Munich, and died at the latter place, 6th July 1877. The best of his longer novels are Handel und Wandel (1850; 3d ed. 1869), Eugen Stillfried (1852), and Namenlose Geschichten (1851). Accurate portraiture of actual life, mostly its external aspects, and a genial humour are the most outstanding characteristics of these works. His best comedies are the Geheimer Agent (1850), which has been performed on all the stages of Germany, and translated into several European languages, and Magnetische Curen (1851). Along with Zoller he started the illustrated magazine Ueber Land und Meer. A collected edition of his works was published at Stuttgart in 60 vols. 1855-74. See his posthumous Roman meines Lebens (2 vols. 1878).